Levitated Mass: The Journey Begins

Finally, after much delay, we are happy to announce that the 340-ton megalith that is to be part of Michael Heizer’s Levitated Mass will begin its journey to LACMA. (Our thanks go to Hanjin Shipping for generously sponsoring the transportation.) It will start moving this Tuesday, February 28, and will arrive to LACMA (very) early in the morning on Saturday, March 10.

The quarry where the boulder currently resides is in Jurupa Valley, in Riverside County—about 105 miles away if you take I-10. The transporter won’t be taking the freeway, however. After months of research, engineering studies, and collaboration with officials in four counties and twenty-two cities, engineers at Emmert International have established a fairly circuitous route that avoids overpasses and any streets or bridges deemed too weak to support the transporter and cargo. You can see the full route here.

The transport will take eleven nights all together, with movement happening only at night—traveling about 8 miles per hour roughly between the hours of 11 pm and 5 am each night. We will be providing updates at lacma.org/levitatedmass as it moves. If you see it pass through your neighborhood, take a picture! Upload it to Facebook and tag us, or post on Twitter (hashtag: #LevitatedMass).

(By the way, while this is possibly the largest megalithic stone moved since ancient times, this is not the first time heavy transport has occurred in Southern California. Just last year Southern California Edison shipped a 350-ton steam generator from the San Onofre nuclear plant to a nuclear-waste disposal site in Utah. A similar transporter was used—400 feet long!—traveling slowly at night over the course of nineteen days, without incident.)

We realize that most of you will not be awake at night to watch the megalith pass by, or perhaps you don’t live within its path. In the event you might want to check it out for yourself, next week we’ll give you a detailed rundown on each of its daily stops.

Once the megalith arrives to LACMA, we will spend the next few weeks installing it over the 456-foot-long slot behind the Resnick Pavilion. The artwork will be ready for public viewing in the late spring/early summer. Stay tuned for further announcements.

Scott Tennent

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31 Responses to Levitated Mass: The Journey Begins

Your links are really interesting, especially the one about the 350-ton moving of nuclear generator. It reminds in some ways the epic story of City (sculpture) versus Chenobyl-Choo-Choo (nuclear waste), a few years ago. Strange dialectic.

But what another great dialectic here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Horseman between Los Angeles and St Petersburg when seeing the 340-tons transportation (2012) echoing the 1500-tonnes one (1770). Socially, technically, aesthetically, historically, so many things to say…

We are also baffled/astounded! But according to Alexander Schenker, in his book “The Bronze Horseman: Falconet’s monument to Peter the Great” (Yale University, 2003), the speed of these crazy men was 150 meters per week… Not so bad, huh ?🙂

Thanks for the update, Scott. Very interesting analogy that the two heaviest things ever transported in this way are on opposite side of the spectrum in terms of our planet’s evolution. But then there is that bronze horse🙂 … Raw geology vs. atom science. On wheels.

I’ve been following these updates a lot. I’m in Santa Cruz and planning to drive down to follow the convoy a few days for a photography and video art project. How would I be able to locate them if I headed down, say, this coming Friday? Cheers,

I was thinking of the 3 obelisks created during the era of ancient Egypt and transported to Paris, London and New York in the 1880s, or well before the era of modern technology. While not as heavy as LACMA’s boulder, they were much taller objects to grapple with.

I bring this up as sort of a challenge to, or as a way to keep the faith among, all those working on Michael Heizar’s work. If they ever find themselves wondering “what did we get ourselves into?!—all the sweat, tears and money for a big uncarved object?!!,” keep in mind what was accomplished over 100 years ago. One such example being even rather closely sited near another art museum, the Metropolitan in Central Park.

I’m with JC!! Who is paying for this? Did someone get a grant that could actually be used to feed and house people? hmmm… Just how does this prove that our economy is improving? I have a rock in my backyard that I’ll let go for the low low price of $200 grand, and all you need to take it is a pick up truck!!! Now, if this artist paid for this out of his own pocket,more power to him, if not.. well,it boggles the mind when there is so much that needs to be done.

@Alexis Dragony: you will find the beginning of an answer by watching the very last video, here: http://obsart.blogspot.com/2012/01/levitated-mass-2012-videos.html
It seems Emmert International didn’t use a crane, but an excavator. It’s not shown in the video but obviously they pushed the rock with the excavator on one side, dragged a small beam underneath and did the same on the other side.
If you find the information, please do share!

“For what is nature? How can we form a picture of it as it was before the intervention of humans with their ravaging tools? Even the powerful myth of nature is being transformed into a mere fiction,
a negative utopia: nature is now seen as merely the raw material out of which the productive forces of a variety of social systems have forged their particular paces.” Henri Lefebvre

JC says:
March 1, 2012 at 9:21 am
Am I the only person that believes this is an absurd waste of time and money and will probably be quite ugly to look at? It’s a big rock, hello!

In response,
I think it is cool! The great builders of Cathedrals could always say I placed that brick. Politics aside I’m sure many people saw such breath taking vaults as a waste too. Who am I to say though I’m just a stone chipper.

Randy, thank you for pointing me to that video–interesting that they would not use a crane. I viewed the rock Saturday at its stop in Rowland Heights and the chatter was that even one crane could have lifted the thing. And how then to wrap the plastic all around it? The rock appears smaller to me than I anticipated.

I saw the rock passing by just in front of my house today in Lakewood, CA on South St at around 11 PM. Huge Huge rig and a lot of manpower and resources…. let’s see if it’s worth the money invested.. !!